Nemoclaw User Configure Inference

Use a Local Inference Server with NemoClaw

Prerequisites

• NemoClaw installed.
• A local model server running, or a supported Ollama, vLLM, or NIM setup that the NemoClaw onboard wizard can use, start, or install.

NemoClaw can route inference to a model server running on your machine instead of a cloud API. This page covers Ollama, compatible-endpoint paths for other servers, and experimental managed options for vLLM and NVIDIA NIM.

All approaches use the same inference.local routing model. The agent inside the sandbox never connects to your model server directly. OpenShell intercepts inference traffic and forwards it to the local endpoint you configure.

Step 1: Ollama

Ollama is the default local inference option. The onboard wizard detects Ollama automatically when it is installed or running on the host.

If Ollama is installed but not running, NemoClaw starts it for you. On macOS and Linux, the wizard can also offer to install Ollama when it is not present. On WSL, the wizard can use, start, restart, or install Ollama on the Windows host through PowerShell interop.

Run the onboard wizard.

$ nemoclaw onboard

Select Local Ollama from the provider list. NemoClaw lists installed models or offers starter models if none are installed. It pulls the selected model, loads it into memory, and validates it before continuing. If the selected model declares that it does not support tool calling, onboarding stops with guidance to choose a model whose ollama show <model> capabilities include tools. On WSL, if you choose the Windows-host Ollama path, NemoClaw uses host.docker.internal:11434 and pulls missing models through the Ollama HTTP API instead of requiring the ollama CLI inside WSL.

WSL with Windows-Host Ollama

When NemoClaw runs inside WSL, the provider menu can include Windows-host Ollama actions:

• Use Ollama on Windows host when the Windows daemon is already reachable.
• Restart Ollama on Windows host when the daemon is installed but only bound to Windows loopback.
• Start Ollama on Windows host when Ollama is installed but not running.
• Install Ollama on Windows host when Windows does not have Ollama installed.

The install and restart paths set OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 on the Windows side so Docker and WSL can reach the daemon through host.docker.internal. Use one Ollama instance on port 11434 at a time. If both WSL and Windows-host Ollama are running, pick the intended menu entry during onboarding so NemoClaw validates and pulls models against the right daemon.

Authenticated Reverse Proxy

On non-WSL hosts, NemoClaw keeps Ollama bound to 127.0.0.1:11434 and starts a token-gated reverse proxy on 0.0.0.0:11435. The native install/start paths also reset NemoClaw-managed systemd launches to the loopback binding. Containers and other hosts on the local network reach Ollama only through the proxy, which validates a Bearer token before forwarding requests. On that native path, NemoClaw never exposes Ollama without authentication.

WSL Ollama paths do not use this proxy. Windows-host Ollama uses the Windows daemon through host.docker.internal.

For non-WSL Ollama setups, the onboard wizard manages the proxy automatically:

• Generates a random 24-byte token on first run and stores it in ~/.nemoclaw/ollama-proxy-token with 0600 permissions.
• Starts the proxy after Ollama and verifies it before continuing.
• Cleans up stale proxy processes from previous runs.
• Retries the sandbox container reachability check and can continue when the host-side proxy is healthy even if the container probe fails.
• Reuses the persisted token after a host reboot so you do not need to re-run onboard.

The sandbox provider is configured to use proxy port 11435 with the generated token as its OPENAI_API_KEY credential. OpenShell's L7 proxy injects the token at egress, so the agent inside the sandbox never sees the token directly.

GET /api/tags is exempt from authentication so container health checks continue to work. All other endpoints (including POST /api/tags) require the Bearer token.

If Ollama is already running on a non-loopback address when you start onboard, the wizard restarts it on 127.0.0.1:11434 so the proxy is the only network path to the model server.

GPU Memory Cleanup

When you switch away from Ollama, stop host services, or destroy an Ollama-backed sandbox, NemoClaw asks Ollama to unload currently loaded models from GPU memory. The cleanup sends keep_alive: 0 for each model reported by Ollama and runs on a best-effort basis, so shutdown continues if Ollama is already stopped. This does not delete downloaded model files.

Non-Interactive Setup

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=ollama \
  NEMOCLAW_MODEL=qwen2.5:14b \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive --yes

If NEMOCLAW_MODEL is not set, NemoClaw selects a default model based on available memory.

--yes (or NEMOCLAW_YES=1) authorises the Ollama model download without an interactive confirmation prompt. Under --non-interactive, --yes (or NEMOCLAW_YES=1) is required to authorise the download — onboard exits otherwise, since it cannot prompt. Run onboard without --non-interactive to get the interactive [y/N] prompt that shows the model size before downloading.

Step 2: OpenAI-Compatible Server

This option works with any server that implements /v1/chat/completions, including vLLM, TensorRT-LLM, llama.cpp, LocalAI, and others. For compatible endpoints, NemoClaw uses /v1/chat/completions by default. This avoids a class of failures where local backends accept /v1/responses requests but silently drop the system prompt and tool definitions. To opt in to /v1/responses, set NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API=openai-responses before running onboard.

Start your model server. The examples below use vLLM, but any OpenAI-compatible server works.

$ vllm serve meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct --port 8000

Run the onboard wizard.

$ nemoclaw onboard

When the wizard asks you to choose an inference provider, select Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Enter the base URL of your local server, for example http://localhost:8000/v1.

The wizard prompts for an API key. If your server does not require authentication, enter any non-empty string (for example, dummy).

NemoClaw validates the endpoint by sending a test inference request before continuing. The wizard probes /v1/chat/completions by default for the compatible-endpoint provider. If you set NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API=openai-responses, NemoClaw probes /v1/responses instead and only selects it when the response includes the streaming events OpenClaw requires.

Non-Interactive Setup

Set the following environment variables for scripted or CI/CD deployments.

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=custom \
  NEMOCLAW_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:8000/v1 \
  NEMOCLAW_MODEL=meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct \
  COMPATIBLE_API_KEY=dummy \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

Selecting the API Path

For the compatible-endpoint provider, /v1/chat/completions is the default. NemoClaw tests streaming events during onboarding and uses chat completions without probing the Responses API.

To opt in to /v1/responses, set NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API before running onboard:

$ NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API=openai-responses nemoclaw onboard

The wizard then probes /v1/responses and only selects it when streaming support is complete. If the probe fails, the wizard falls back to /v1/chat/completions automatically. You can use this variable in both interactive and non-interactive mode.

If you already onboarded and the sandbox is failing at runtime, re-run nemoclaw onboard to re-probe the endpoint and bake the correct API path into the image. Refer to Switch Inference Models (use the nemoclaw-user-configure-inference skill) for details.

Step 3: Anthropic-Compatible Server

If your local server implements the Anthropic Messages API (/v1/messages), choose Other Anthropic-compatible endpoint during onboarding instead.

$ nemoclaw onboard

For non-interactive setup, use NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=anthropicCompatible and set COMPATIBLE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=anthropicCompatible \
  NEMOCLAW_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:8080 \
  NEMOCLAW_MODEL=my-model \
  COMPATIBLE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=dummy \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

Step 4: vLLM (Experimental)

When vLLM is already running on localhost:8000, NemoClaw can detect it automatically and query the /v1/models endpoint to determine the loaded model. On supported Linux hosts with NVIDIA GPUs, the onboard wizard can also install or start a managed vLLM container for you.

Set the experimental flag and run onboard.

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 nemoclaw onboard

Select Local vLLM [experimental] from the provider list. If vLLM is already running, NemoClaw detects the running model and validates the endpoint. If vLLM is not running and your host matches a managed profile, select the Install vLLM or Start vLLM entry. NemoClaw pulls the vLLM image, downloads model weights into ~/.cache/huggingface, starts the nemoclaw-vllm container on localhost:8000, and prints progress markers while the model loads. The first run can take 10 to 30 minutes. Later runs reuse the cached image and model weights.

Managed vLLM uses these profiles:

Note: NemoClaw forces the chat/completions API path for vLLM. The vLLM /v1/responses endpoint does not run the --tool-call-parser, so tool calls arrive as raw text.

Non-Interactive Setup

Use an already-running vLLM server:

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 \
  NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=vllm \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

Install or start managed vLLM when a supported profile is detected:

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 \
  NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=install-vllm \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

NemoClaw records the model returned by vLLM's /v1/models endpoint. Start vLLM with the model you want before onboarding if you manage the server yourself.

Step 5: NVIDIA NIM (Experimental)

NemoClaw can pull, start, and manage a NIM container on hosts with a NIM-capable NVIDIA GPU.

Set the experimental flag and run onboard.

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 nemoclaw onboard

Select Local NVIDIA NIM [experimental] from the provider list. NemoClaw filters available models by GPU VRAM, pulls the NIM container image, starts it, and waits for it to become healthy before continuing.

NIM container images are hosted on nvcr.io and require NGC registry authentication before docker pull succeeds. If Docker is not already logged in to nvcr.io, onboard prompts for an NGC API key and runs docker login nvcr.io over --password-stdin so the key is never written to disk or shell history. The prompt masks the key during input and retries once on a bad key before failing. In non-interactive mode, onboard exits with login instructions if Docker is not already authenticated; run docker login nvcr.io yourself, then re-run nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive.

Note: NIM uses vLLM internally. The same chat/completions API path restriction applies.

Non-Interactive Setup

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 \
  NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=nim \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

To select a specific model, set NEMOCLAW_MODEL.

Step 6: Timeout Configuration

Local inference requests use a default timeout of 180 seconds. Large prompts on hardware such as DGX Spark can exceed shorter timeouts, so NemoClaw sets a higher default for Ollama, vLLM, NIM, and compatible-endpoint setup.

To override the timeout, set the NEMOCLAW_LOCAL_INFERENCE_TIMEOUT environment variable before onboarding:

$ export NEMOCLAW_LOCAL_INFERENCE_TIMEOUT=300
$ nemoclaw onboard

The value is in seconds. This setting is baked into the sandbox at build time. Changing it after onboarding requires re-running nemoclaw onboard.

Step 7: Verify the Configuration

After onboarding completes, confirm the active provider and model.

$ nemoclaw <name> status

The output shows the provider label (for example, "Local vLLM" or "Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint") and the active model.

Step 8: Switch Models at Runtime

You can change the model without re-running onboard. Refer to Switch Inference Models (use the nemoclaw-user-configure-inference skill) for the full procedure.

For compatible endpoints, the command is:

$ openshell inference set --provider compatible-endpoint --model <model-name>

If the provider itself needs to change (for example, switching from vLLM to a cloud API), rerun nemoclaw onboard.

References

• Load references/switch-inference-providers.md when switching inference providers, changing the model runtime, or reconfiguring inference routing. Changes the active inference model without restarting the sandbox.
• Load references/set-up-sub-agent.md when users ask how to add a second model, configure a sub-agent model, use Omni for vision tasks, configure agents.list, or use sessions_spawn in NemoClaw. Shows the NemoClaw-specific file paths and update flow for adding an auxiliary OpenClaw sub-agent model.
• Load references/inference-options.md when explaining which providers are available, what the onboard wizard presents, or how inference routing works. Lists all inference providers offered during NemoClaw onboarding.

Related Skills

• nemoclaw-user-get-started — Quickstart (use the nemoclaw-user-get-started skill) for first-time installation